Life of Misty
by thecagedsong
Summary: The toughest trainers and coordinators of four regions are called together to attend an additional year of schooling focused solely on Pokemon as decreed by Lance Wyvren. Will Misty, Ash, and the rest of the underage gang stop having adventures simply because they can't travel? Yeah right. First ten chapters already written.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi, so in honor of the anniversary of Ash meeting Misty and Pikachu, and starting his Journey, I've decided to post the first two chapters of my new chapter fic. Pokeshipping forever! Expect Chapter two up at a decent hour of the day.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, though if the writers of pokemon are cruzing through fanfiction sights for ideas like I suspect they do, they may feel free to borrow any of my ideas. Specifically the poekshipping ones! **

"Lance, I have a bone to pick with you!" a voice shouted as soon as he closed the door to his office. The Dragon Master sighed, he had been dealing with angry people all day and just wanted the peace and quiet of his office. Normally Dragonite and him would've flown away long ago, but Mr. Goodshow had made him swear not to flee if he was going to push his plan through.

He turned to find the latest complainant, knowing they were either someone incredibly sneaky or had really high clearance to get into his office. He came face to face with a young but fairly pretty girl. She had bright red hair flowing down her back with the top layer pulled into a side pony tail. Her eyes were an intense blue green that positively sparked with anger. She wore a short yellow jacket over a dark red undershirt with a yellow skirt. Her skin appeared to have a nice tan, but it was hard to tell when her face was so red. In fact she looked rather like a dragon at this point so he decided to deal with her as if she was one.

"Excuse me, but you don't have any right to be hounding me inside my office, now I have had a long and tiring day and would appreciate you leaving." He said this calmly, but knew of the blast was likely to follow and braced himself. Once this human dragon saw that yelling wasn't going to affect him they could have a decent conversation.

"Like hell I don't have the right Lance, I own the second most powerful gym in Kanto, I've trained a Gyrados that could give you a run for your money, seen tons of legendary Pokémon, kept Team Rocket clear out of the cities of Cerulean, Pallet, and Pewter by uncovering and destroying four different bases in the past three years, and now I hear a television program stating that I am unfit to train my Pokémon because I am too young! That I can't complete my duties as a Gym Leader because I might join Team Rocket or abandon a Pokémon or something stupid like that! I have every right to be here!"

Crap, he had sent notices to the professors of trainers that might be traveling to give them an explanation, but he forgot that he had underage Gym leaders in the area as well. He silently thanked God that the Saffron City Gym leader had turned 18 a while ago. Those psychics were scary.

"Look Misty," now he remembered who she was. So much time was spent chasing out Rockets and other Pokémon thieves that it left him little time with his own Gym leaders. This was probably not a good thing considering they were technically directly under him as Champion, but they were a lower priority. "I realize that you and your Pokémon have done a lot for this region," Really, four bases? How had he missed that? "But there was an edict sent out saying that trainers already out in the field for five months can keep their Pokémon during the schooling session."

"You don't get it Lance," Misty said, still angry, "You just discredited years of work that not only I put in to my Gym, but Sabrina and Erica as well. We all performed the bulk of our duties underage. Do you realize that a badge I gave out is worthless because I didn't seen the news till that night? I know you're behind this because I've met Goodshow on plenty of occasions and his favorite trainers were always the young ones, the ones with the most fire. He even let me carry the moltres flame five years ago because he said that the youth and spirit we displayed was what made the League great. No one else has the power to make something like this, so I am holding you accountable. Now, what are you going to do to make my Gym not become the laughing stock of the eight regions and allow me to continue doing what I do best?"

"I'm sorry Misty, but I can't exempt you from taking another year of schooling," she looked ready to start yelling again so Lance quickly explained, "This is a good thing, you've traveled, and think about how many abandoned Pokémon you saw. How many times did you run into members of Team Rocket who had stolen Pokémon? Do you know how organizations like Team Rocket get members? They get kids off the street who don't know how to survive alone or take care of their Pokémon and convince them that joining Team Rocket will help them become more powerful or let them be a part of their family. It's sickening. Now tell me that requiring another year of schooling that focus solely on caring for your personal Pokémon is a bad thing!" He didn't mean to take out his anger on this girl, and he hoped she wouldn't start crying. Lance really couldn't handle a girl crying.

Luckily for him, this Gym leader was made of sterner stuff, and all she did was square her shoulders against the outburst. It took a while before she responded.

"Lance, okay, I can understand your reasoning. Would life have gone a little smoother if I knew how to cook and calm a crying Pokémon before I left? Sure. But that doesn't change the fact that no one is going to respect my authority as Gym leader if I have to take a beginners course on how to take care of Pokémon with ten year olds. Those same ten year olds will either be scared off by me and my Gyrados, or think that my badge doesn't mean anything because I was in class just like them. You will make a laughing stock of the Indigo League if your second strongest gym leader has to give up her position and attend a remedial class."

At least they were getting somewhere and Misty no longer looked like a dragon about to spit fire. Shame, now that he thought about it, she looked kind of sexy with her eyes sparking and hair flowing like that. Then he focused on the problem she presented. His goal was to get other regions to accept a policy similar to his and maybe it was time to show some diplomacy if they were going to get this policy to spread.

"I see your dilemma, and I agree that you can't be schooled with every new trainer receiving his Pokémon. You might lose your battling skills if forced to not battle for a year and I need this policy to spread. But the first year will be filled with other traveling trainers so it won't be just ten year olds in the class. I need this policy to stick Misty, I could save trainers from converting to Team Rocket or other criminal organization, and Pokémon from being abandoned."

"Lance, you banned battling for everyone underage. Do you know what a year of not battling competitively does to Pokémon and trainers? You won't get anything to spread if after your announcement all Kanto trainers suck too much to compete in leagues and contests." Misty folder her arms and stared him down. Lance sighed and knew this was going to take more flexibility than he thought.

"You have a point," Lance conceded, "Now help me think of a solution. I spent all day dealing with angry people in the hundreds and need another head." He massaged his temples, not ready for more crap today. The two thought and Lance really wanted to sit in his chair, but was unwilling to take the position of less power in front of Misty. How on Earth did she get up here anyway?

"Okay Misty, how about this, you and other highly qualified trainers go to a different school that focuses on advanced tactics, strategies, and Pokémon care. Battling and training will be mandatory parts of the ciriculum. While Professor Oak's lab is going to be used for Kanto's basic training, he hasn't expressed interest in being a teacher there as it would hurt his research on Human-Pokémon relationships. We might be able to convince him to teach at an advanced school where he can still study the deeper relationships because all the experienced trainers will be there."

Misty thought for a moment, tapping her chin, "I can live with that on two conditions, first you make the announcement of it public with an apology to the experienced trainers that have brought Kanto pride for letting them think they were useless etc." he nodded, it might help quell the outrage and his PR department wouldn't let him mess it up, "and second, you let me modify the curriculum, choose the professors, and set the entry requirements. As someone who has traveled recently and keep in constant contact with trainers who are traveling now, as well as certified representative of the Pokémon League, I am highly qualified for the job." She looked at him, daring him to deny her credentials. Lance stared at the girl.

"This will require a lot of work in a sort amount of time. Experienced trainers will be coming back from other regions by the end of the month, and we need to have the new school up soon after, can you handle it by yourself?" he questioned seriously, trying not to insult her again. But giving her control of a school was displaying too much trust for someone he just met. Every credible trainer would be attending, literally the future of Pokémon battling was going to be at this school.

"It's the best way to show that you still support me as an accredited member of the Pokémon League. By letting me be a consultant then participating in the program myself, you won't be discrediting me as a Leader, but showing me as someone you trust and respect to make decisions regarding who is fit to be a trainer. Just like Gym Leaders have been doing since the beginning of the League. I'm going to consult with Professors, experts, and clerks to make sure everything is run right, so forget about managing experience. My job on the board can be temporary, take me off as soon as the school starts." Misty was compromising at the end, but she would do anything to keep her trainer status as a Gym Leader, she got it when her parents died and she would not let it go lightly.

Lance eyed her carefully. Her stance showed utter confidence in her ability and if everything she said was true then she was perfectly qualified to make the modifications needed. He still felt uneasy placing a huge chunk of the success of this program in the hands of a volatile teenage girl.

"Misty, don't be offended, but I am going to need the rest of the day to think over your proposition. You have to be the absolute best for the job. There are other ways to establish my support of you without you having to be in charge of a school for your peers." Misty shrugged, a little miffed, but she was confident in herself.

"Take all the time you want; I'm going to be sitting right outside your door. At the moment I can't attend to my gym, train my Pokémon, or really anything at all." Here she smiled a cheesy sarcastic smile, "I'll be right here if you have any questions about my file. Keep in mind that I have several experiences that will not be recorded in your data base."

With all the regality of a freaking princess the red-head left his office to sit in the waiting room. What had Lance gotten himself into? And how on earth did she manage to make such a dramatic exit? Lance dressed in capes and rode dragons, but she still seemed more intimidating than him by simply turning her back and walking out of the room. Sighing he logged onto his computer and pulled up all known information on Misty Waterflower.

The system was ordered chronologically, so he expected the first entry to be her registration as a trainer when she was ten to the Cerulean Gym. Instead there was an entry by Professor Samuel Oak when the little girl was four. Curious he opened it.

_I was visiting the Cerulean Gym to ask the Gym leader Rose Waterflower about water Pokémon environments as looking to improve the one at my lab when I met the their youngest daughter Misty Waterflower. As a young man I had an encounter with the legendary Pokémon Celebi who is rumored with the power of time travel. It is no rumor. I can remember meeting a twelve year old Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum when I was thirteen myself and I remember the girl showed great courage and kindness during the trip through time and I am glad to be able to watch her grow up into the magnificent water trainer I know she will become. My journal from that experience is under the restricted files of the research facility in Pallet if you require more information about the incident. _

This girl hadn't been lying about her experience with legendaries then, and she probably had even more stories if she had truly been traveling with the League proclaimed trouble-magnet Ash Ketchum. That kid had actually been in so many incidents that Lance took it upon himself to call and warn the champions of whatever region Ash was traveling into next. It was a little awkward telling them to watch the kid and their legends because if anyone was going to find them and make them come true, it was him. He had been ignored so far in the regions of Sinnoh and Unova, but he still felt that they deserved a warning.

The next entry was her acquisition of her first Pokémon, Staryu, from the Cerulean Gym on her tenth birthday, then her capture of a goldeen within the first month. Started her journey a few months later. There was a report of her death on the Saint Anne with a note about the discovery of her being alive after destroying the Giant Pokémon Park, owned by Giovanni.

He smiled at that one, it never hurt to cut off the Rockets money supply. The next incident was a mention of her helping stop the giant Tentacruel and Tentacool swarm a month later. She had only been out on her journey a few months at this point and had a bigger file than many trainers ever got throughout their entire journey. He started skimming.

The gym leaders of Saffron, Fuchsia, and Cinnabar (there was a gym on Cinnabar?) all had positive stories claiming she helped them solve major problems at their gyms, Sabrina's was vague, but he decided he really didn't want to know. There was Goodshow's quick entry about three trainers including Misty he elected to help carry the Moltres flame, a Pokémon official's report of Ash's coach Misty Waterflower stomping onto a Pokémon official match to threaten Ash's opponent because of some dubious circumstances taking place between the two trainers that morning, and another quick blip by Professor Oak on his entrusting the retrieval of the G.S. ball from Professor Ivy to the three trainers. The entries get farther apart here as less people in the Orange Islands reported to sources he could access.

Or maybe they just stopped getting into trouble.

Nahhh.

There was a news article posting how three trainers helped save the grape fruit islands from being devoured by a Snorelax, a couple of entries from Nurse Joy's about the three trainers showing deep kindness and empathy toward sick or hurt Pokémon, and something from an Orange Crew Member about her saving his little sister from drowning. The big event was that apparently she and Ash were at the center of the weather fiasco a couple of years ago when the legendary birds got captured. These entries were from Professors Oak and Ivy relating the story as they were told it. Great more legendaries. Lance was starting to think that the divine Pokémon would come and smite him if he messed with her and Ash. Those two were their favorites it seemed. He skipped some more Joys and Jennys reports of acts of bravery and kindness.

Then came the Jhoto region with multiple reports from Officer Jennys about a trio stopping Pokémon thieves and real thieves. No wonder Misty found the idea of ten year olds not being able to take care of themselves ridiculous. Everywhere she went not only did she and her friends take care of themselves, but they took care of every single living thing that crossed their paths.

He searched for more legendary sightings connected with her and was surprised to find a mark on her record entered by himself. Apparently she was with Ash when he had to calm the red Gyrados and stop Team Rocket from interfering with their genetically altered Pokémon Mew Two. He thought back and had a vague recollection of a girl with a ponytail and holding a Togepi being there. Then there was a video of Misty and her friends trying to fight their way into the castle the Unknown had built, so he assumed she saw them too, plus the Entei they had created. Wow, he hasn't even gotten to her Gym Leader Career. He skipped ahead to that point, it seems that after exploring Jhoto her path slit from Ash's and she was registered as the Gym leader when she was thirteen. Why did the Indigo League let kids become Gym Leaders so young? Shouldn't there be a rule about that, an age or experience limit or something? He decided to look into it later. Maybe the legendaries had decreed that the girl named Misty Waterflower could do whatever she wanted. He wouldn't put it past them.

Her Gym leader career started with a report from a gym certifier Nurse Joy. It was a stellar report on how she managed to befriend and calm a rampaging and recently evolved Gyrados in her Gym and got rid of three troublemakers who ganged up on her. That report finished with the note that she was badly hurt from a poison sting, but was expected to make a full recovery and be a huge credit to the Cerulean Gym. He clicked on the Gym's stats after Misty's return and saw a 600% increase in battles won in the past three years. She was at this time just behind Sabrina's Gym for strongest Gym in Kanto, she wasn't lying about that. At this point he knew she was perfect for the job, but kept reading out of curiosity.

The rest were mostly news articles, she hosted swim lessons and a swim team for all ages at her Gym, and Misty would occasionally join her sisters in a water ballet. Every time she did the show would sell out in a day. Misty also hosted private lessons for those who were scared of Pokémon to come to the Gym and she would help them overcome their fears. It basically seemed that everyone loved her and she wasn't bluffing when she said it would ruin the league's reputation to send her to a remedial course in Pokémon. He wondered if anyone else from Cerulean was seething because it looked like he had denied Misty the respect her experiences deserved. Really he had just forgotten about his Gym Leaders, bad form and all that, but it wasn't intentional.

In between the articles about her community service was a report from Drake, Orange League Champion, about her and Gary Oak helping release a school of poached Milotic and calming down a Lugia who had been trying to protect them. Looks like Legendaries needed her whether she was with Ash or not. Her Rocket reports followed after, filed by herself, as she noticed and investigated suspicious activities as she was visiting Professor Oak or her friend Brock. They all seemed to end with her soaking the electrical center of the base she had mysteriously stumbled onto, helping the stolen Pokémon escape, and sending the main agents 'blasting off' whatever that meant. Four bases, all verified by local authorities to be legit Rocket spots. He needed her kind of luck, it took ages for him to find the devils, and she just ran into them everywhere.

Then finally came a report about the last gym leader conference and her reaching the semi-finals against his cousin Clair and barely losing in what was proclaimed a match the Elites would be jealous of. After looking at her file there was really only one answer he could give the girl waiting outside his office. Lance walked to the door and asked Misty to come back inside, she sat in the chair across from him.

"That didn't take long," she smiled.

"I was surprised at first how much of your file was set under level five security clearance, but now I honestly don't know whether to bow to you as a princess or cower in fear of the legendaries that would hunt me down for even implying you couldn't take care of yourself." He said at last.

She smiled even broader at that, "It's actually pretty strange that I can't access the majority of my own file, but I know what happened. And I bet you guys are still missing at least three of my legendary encounters."

"Try me, we keep very close track of our trainers Misty, with Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, Gym Leader, and Professor reports from every region, as well as any news articles involving a Kanto or Jhoto registered trainer. Oh, and sorry for not recognizing you earlier." She shrugged.

"Its fine, Ash is usually the one everyone remembers and I'm used to it. But I'm betting there is no record my Celebi encounter in your database." Misty smirked, it wasn't often she got to brag about her adventures and have someone believe them, least of all Lance Dragon Master.

"Actually, that was the first entry on your trainer record. Professor Oak put the note in as soon as he recognized you when you were four." Lance was proud of his system, and no one, not even this princess, was going to bash it.

"Really how would he know?" she seemed honestly surprised, and he was glad to be working with a human. At least someone who could be surprised like a human.

"He says he recognized you from when he was a 13 and met you and Ash after time traveling."

"You're telling me that Sammy was Professor Oak! We never knew!" She took a second to absorb that information, "That means that he knew Ash would meet me and Brock, and, wait, he knew to give Ash Pikachu when he woke up late despite not being a traditional starter. And… dang, he _is_ good. Fine, you win that one." Lance was enjoying the looks going across her face; surprise, anger, realization, and finally respect. She was an open book, and that was refreshing after the poker faces of people on the League and other politicians that he had to deal with on a regular basis.

"Okay, I know you don't have a record of this one because I only remembered it myself two years ago. After my first encounter with Mew Two he wiped the memories of me, my friends, and our Pokémon. It was right after he broke out of Giovanni's control the first time that he decided that clones like him should rule the world. He gathered the best Pokémon trainers in region, including me, Ash, and Brock to get some Pokémon to clone for his plan. Then it was same old same old; fulfill a prophecy, Ash dies and comes back to life, we convince Mew Two that we can live in peace, and everyone lives happily ever after, basically. I actually would have thought it was only a dream but I remember being confused about how we ended up in a certain Pokémon center that day and everything fits." Misty was smug and Lance grunted.

"You win this one, we don't have that experience, but it hardly counts since no one remembered it anyway." It was fun arguing with Misty, she gave her best and ignored his status. The only other person that never cared was Clair and she wasn't as fun because of all the personal dirt she had on him.

"It does too count," Misty pouted, "I bet you don't have the time we saved Latias and Latios from the Rocket agents Annie and Oakley. There were no officials during that adventure, so the only way you could possibly know about that would be to have access to the Rocket database." Personally he was wondering what her file looked like in the Rocket's database at the moment. He wondered if it was possibly bigger than his. Nah.

"You're right, we don't have that incident either, but I will make sure they are entered right away, where did it occur?" Misty suddenly looked scared and panicked.

"Sorry, forget about that last one, I don't care how much security your database has, those Pokémon are living in peace because no one knows where they are. I won't let you destroy that just to complete your records." Misty looked determined, and Lance decided not to fight her about it. He would simply write a note that if information on Latios or Latias became important to ask one of the three travelers, maybe adding a note that Misty should be used as a last resort. He liked his officials in one piece and Misty was probably more apt to tear them apart than one of her companions. Lance nodded his consent to Misty's request, and she looked visibly relieved.

"Sorry, I guess I got carried away with bragging. I don't get to do it much with someone who speaks human. Anyway, your final decision on my terms?" she smiled sweetly.

"Well Princess, I assume you already have close contact with Professor Oak, so here is my letter of approval saying you have the right to help make decisions concerning curriculum, admission, and teachers. This is my phone number in case anyone has problems with it." He handed her the paperwork, "Oh, and feel free to call that in cases of Rocket intervention and meeting with legendaries. I find that Dragons can help solve a lot of those problems." He winked at her.

She blushed as she took the items from him, "I'll consider it, but Legendaries are rather picky about their heroes. And please don't call me princess, I hate that stupid article. For a week trainers wouldn't take me seriously and tons of guys came by just to ask for a date! And the magazine refused to retract it!" Misty winced at the memory.

"What article?" Lance asked and turned back to his computer to look it up.

"Umm, nothing, bye!" She raced out of his office. He chuckled and found the article she had mentioned.

_**Misty Waterflower Kanto's Uncrowned Royalty**_

_Last Month's edition cited May Maple as the Current Princess of Hoenn for her stage presence as a coordinator and all around charm and incredible skill. When considering who was fit enough to be the Princess of Kanto there was really only one choice._

_Misty Waterflower actually starts her story by being born into what others might consider an already royal family. Her family has owned the Cerulean Gym for as long as anyone can remember and the Waterflower Underwater Ballet is famous around the globe. It was specifically praised for being able to interact with their highly trained water Pokémon in a beautiful and astounding story. Misty is often a guest star in their performances and adds an edge of excitement to every play, but the girl doesn't end with her gorgeous looks and famous acting ability. Her fiery personality and strong offensive style serves her well as the current Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym._

_Aside from all the work that already goes into being a Gym Leader and an actress, Misty also finds time to run swim lessons and a swim team out of her gym with eight highly qualified coaches under her command. When asked what it was like to have a sixteen year old Misty for a boss, coach Connor Jean replied, _

"_Honestly, we all respect experience over age and Misty is a very down to earth boss. She listens to us when we tell her something isn't working and works with all of the coaches as a group to fix it. Plus she drops by at random times to keep us on our toes and isn't afraid to get in the water with the kids or adults to help out. She is one of the kindest people I know."_

_When asked if he had a crush on the red-haired beauty, he managed to trip before denying to comment, while standing still. Her beautiful visage combined with her unique clothing style seems to charm everyone she meets._

_She is the star of Cerulean, but how does that qualify her as the Princess of Kanto? Other Gym Leaders, specifically Erica of Celadon and Sabrina of Saffron, consider her to be a close friend and the three are often seen together in Celedon's famous shopping center. She came in second at the Gym leader conference, and all trainers hoping to enter the Pokémon League know her name and make her gym one of their last stops. Misty often spends her days off in the town of Pallet helping Professor Oak and his grandson Gary Oak, whom she is rumored to be dating, with their research. Other times she visits Pewter City and keeps up her friendship with the Gym Leader family the Slates. Sadly they were unavailable for comment, but we did hear rumors that a Team Rocket base was destroyed the same day as her arrival for a Pewter visit, but nothing has been confirmed. Many people know her from her travels around Kanto on her personal Pokémon journey and they have confirmed our description of Miss Waterflower._

_It is easy to see that the only candidate for Princess of Kanto is Misty Waterflower, glamorous, kind, protective, and beautiful. Any man who could call Misty his own is a lucky man indeed. _

Lance laughed when he finished the article, remembering the complete dragon that had snuck into his office to yell at him, and possibly feed him to her Gyrados. Just imagining what it was like when their "Princess" marched into the editor's office and yelled at him for making her seem weak and girly sent him into laughter. He would have paid money to see that. Yes, he would definitely keep an eye on her in the future.


	2. The Other Side of the World

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon and I wouldn't want to. Fanfiction can express so many more story lines than a running series. And imagine the stress; I can barely make it through my freshman year of college!**

Chapter Two:

"Professor, you're joking," Ash said, staring at the image of his mentor.

"No, I'm terribly sorry Ash, but as of a week from now your trainer's license will be revoked unless you come back to Kanto and complete another year study. This one devoted to Pokémon."

"That's what I thought I heard you say, but it still doesn't make any sense." Ash stared blankly at the Professor and tried to grasp the concept.

"Ash in the past three years four trainers have died and many others have joined up with Team Rocket or other criminal organizations from not having enough experience traveling on their own, and plenty of Pokémon are still being abandoned each year. This extra year of school will help trainers to better understand the relationship between humans and Pokémon so they won't abandon them when the going gets rough. Think of how many of your Pokémon you picked up because some trainer thought it was too weak. Wouldn't you want to spare them the abandonment in the first place?" Okay, Ash could understand that, the Squirtle squad, Charzard, Chimchar, and a whole bunch of other Pokémon went through being abandoned, and maybe this might help decrease abandonment rates.

"But why do I have to go? I have a spotless record and am only two badges away from being able to enter the Unova League."

"Ash," Professor Oak scolded, "The directions came from Lance himself, and are likely to spread to other regions. Last I heard Misty was throwing a fit and went to give Lance a piece of her mind. I don't know yet if Misty managed to change anything, but I know for a fact that she won't get out of another year of schooling either. Lance discussed badges with the Leagues of other regions and they all agreed that badges earned within this year will still count for their leagues when you get back. Now stop whining and come home."

"But-"

"No buts, I think it is a sound idea and you should support it by not arguing. Now call your mother and arrange it. You get to keep working and training your Pokémon if you comply with this, otherwise owning Pokémon will become illegal for you. The amount of Pokeballs you can carry will be set to zero and all of your Pokémon will be transported here and kept at my lab till you turn eighteen. You're stuck Ash." Then Professor Oak hung up and Ash was left to flop onto the couch at the Pokémon center and stare at the ceiling.

He didn't want to call his Mom, he didn't want to tell Cilan and Iris that he was being called back home for a stupid reason like being too young, and he didn't want to tell his Pokémon that all their hard work is going to be put on hold for a year. So instead he was going to sit here.

Seriously, he had lost track of the number of times he saved the world, he helped any person he came across that needed help, and he had more contacts in every region than the Champions themselves had. Are they really going to tell him to go back to school to learn about Pokémon? At this point he probably knew more about the Pokémon from different regions than any Pallet town teacher did! The only good thing about that conversation was hearing Misty was going to the Indigo Plateau to give them hell about this. He was resigned and disappointed about this, and yeah, pretty ticked off, but Misty couldn't be anything other than raging furious. Maybe she would feed Lance and the other League officials to her Gyrados. That thought cheered him up until Iris walked in.

"So Ash, how did your talk with the Professor go?" she asked.

"Terrible," he groaned. Covering his face with a pillow, he mumbled into it.

"Aww, can't be that bad grumpy pants," she said. When he didn't respond she decided to jump on him and take the pillow away.

"Ow! Iris! That hurts! And I don't wanna talk about it." She decided that this wasn't a good enough answer and started to tickle him, "Okay fine I'll tell you! Just… stop… tickling… me," he managed to say between laughs. She got off him and waited with her arms crossed for his answer, a small smile on her face from getting her way.

Ash's bad mood instantly returned, "New law in Kanto says I have to go back for a year of schooling before I can continue my journey. All my Pokémon go to Professor Oak until I turn eighteen if I don't agree." She stood still for a moment and looked shocked.

"But Ash, you're so close to Unova League! All that work for nothing!" then she gasped. "Wait, please tell me it's just Kanto." She said and rushed over to a computer that was open, and pulled up the latest news.

"Okay, it says here that regions of Jhoto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh are seriously considering adopting a policy similar to Kanto's, but regions Unova, Orre, and Kalos see no reason to deviate from form and don't feel that an extra year of schooling will change anything. They are expressing confidence in all their trainers to treat their Pokémon right, but if the experiment is successful after a period of five years they will reconsider adopting the Pokémon School Policy." She leaned back and sighed in relief.

"Sucks to be you Ash, but at least there is no chance of Axew being taken from me. I can't stand the idea of sitting in a stupid classroom all day and not being able to travel or climb trees. Can you imagine me sitting still?" Iris said gesturing to herself.

"Oh, and you think I'll do any better?" Ash replied tartly, "I haven't stayed in none place for more than a week in the past five years!"

"Cheer up Ash, maybe this I exactly what you need to stop being such a little kid!" she teased. Yeah, she was going to miss him, but Ash could take care of himself, especially in his home region. Right now he needed to get out of his pity party.

"So, who is going to tell Cilan?" Iris asked.

"Tell me what?" Cilan asked as he entered holding Pikachu. Ash's best buddy jumped from Cilan's arms onto Ash, who was still lying defeated on the couch. When Ash didn't immediately start playing with him Pikachu realized something must be wrong, and tried nuzzling him.

"Sorry Pikachu, but I have some really bad news."

"Pica?"

"Ash, what's wrong?" Now Cilan was concerned. He had never seen Ash look so down that Pikachu couldn't cheer him up.

"New law in Kanto says that if I want to keep you and my other Pokémon I have to go back and attend a year of school to learn how to train you better. I could teach a school about Pokémon guys, I don't want to attend one. Now we have to wait an entire year before I can compete in the Unova League. Sorry Pikachu." Ash apologized glumly. Pikachu just licked his cheek to show that this wasn't going to stop them and that everything was going to be okay. Ash understood, he sat up and hugged his most loyal Pokémon.

"Well, that changes things," Cilan said, still trying to grasp what was happening.

"Cilan," Iris said, "Regions Jhoto, Sinnoh, and Hoenn are thinking about requiring the same thing, but Unova thinks it's dumb. No one is going to take away our pokemom."

"When do you have to leave?" asks the ever practical Cilan.

"To get back before the agreement deadline? This week."

** A/N: So, fun fact about me is that I stress write. Some people go OCD, some eat lots of food, and some work out; I write. With school finals coming up in less than a month I anticipate writing a lot. Considering that I already have over 200 double spaced pages typed of this at the moment, that is good news for you. How did I do with Iris and Cilan? I couldn't stand listening to them for hours on end in the dub so I am the most unfamiliar with their characters, though I do know they are awesome. Hope I did them justice.**

**Sundays feel like a good updating day, don't you think?**

**Peace and Courage,**

**Thecagedsong**


	3. Chapter 3

Misty was wondering what exactly made her think she could handle putting together a school for experienced Pokémon trainers. After spending the last eight hours talking with various Professors she was taking a rest at her home away from home, the Ketchum household.

"Mom, do you think I did the right thing? What if I'm not experienced enough and end up making a whole mess of this school business? Lance is counting on me to make the best decisions." She had taken to calling Delia Ketchum mom two years ago when Ms. Ketchum insisted that Misty was her daughter more than anything else, and she certainly saw her more often than Ash. Misty held her precious Azuril closer for comfort.

"Misty, you are doing the right thing, this is the only way to keep your credibility as a trainer, and you have so many people helping you plan all of this that you can't mess up," Delia said, knowing it was what Misty needed to hear. This was the second time she has had to say it since her the girl took up this project two weeks ago. She brought Misty some tea, sat next to her on the couch, and put an arm around her. Misty normally didn't have self-confidence issues that she let other people see, but this was a whole new realm for the girl. The mother started playing with the hair of the girl she loved as her child.

Misty leaned into the one-armed hug, trying and failing to remember her own mother doing this. She could remember a couple of times when Ash did this to comfort her though, and decided to just enjoy it.

"You're right, with Gary and Professor Sammy we have gotten a lot done, and they haven't told me any of my idea's were impossible or stupid. This is going to be just fine." Misty took a deep breath and let all her worries flow out of her. Then she smiled at her nickname for the famous professor, calling him Professor Sammy no matter what was the punishment for not telling her earlier that they had met in a weird time vortex. It was going to happen when he was teaching a class at school, addressing her at dinner, or on the phone. And she would refuse to explain it to anyone. Misty wasn't sure if she was going to reveal his identity to Ash and Brock yet, but she was going to make it hilarious. Gary was really confused about the sudden nickname, but whatever, his gramps can tell him.

Misty shared the day's developments with Mom, "The recently rebuilt Viridian Gym is going to be the site because it had tons of empty offices that can easily be converted into dorms or class rooms. The actual gym section was rebuilt with interchangeable fields because they hadn't yet decided on a Gym Leader and will be great for the tournaments we have planned. A contest hall exists just down the street to accommodate coordinator practice and classes, and there is plenty of open outside space for whatever we need. We finally set the limits today at top eight in a Grand Festival, and top eight in any League worldwide during the past four years. I told Lance to go ahead and offer our school to other regions who had adopted the poke-school idea granted they pass the entry requirements, I guess we are making progress." Misty finished.

"Oh Misty, I am so proud of you. You've worked so hard at this, and I know the school will be a great success. Now let's forget about all that, okay?" Misty nodded and snuggled in a little closer.

"Here, you pick a movie, I'll make some popcorn, and we won't think about anything involving school until tomorrow. You are staying again right?"

"Yeah, Gyrados spent the day playing with the other Pokémon at the lab and is too tired for a return trip. That is one really good thing, I haven't been able to get Gyrados to socialize much before spending all my time at the lab."

"Misty, you're always welcome, even if Gyrados was at full strength," Delia said, leaving no room for doubt, and Misty smiled.

They each went and soon enough a new romantic comedy was playing and they just had a girls night. The two women even broke out the ice cream halfway through when neither woman could stop staring at the ice cream the characters were eating. Midnight saw the goodnight kiss Mrs. Ketchum gave Misty before she slipped into Ash's bedroom to get some sleep.

Ash was bone tired. The ferry came into at two o'clock in the morning and now he had to walk back home. Pikachu was asleep in his backpack, and Ash felt the usual loneliness that occurred the few times he traveled without other people. It would go away once he reached home, but it sucked for now.

If Iris was here she would be whining about stopping for the night because she didn't need a bed and preferred trees anyway and Cilan would be chattering about how thrilled he was to sample the flavors of such an exotic region. Brock would be awake and excited to be so near his family and Ash's mom, eager to see if there was any way he could be of service even at two thirty in the morning. Dawn would be sleep walking and probably leaning on his backpack so she wouldn't have to open her eyes to see where she was going, being peppy all day took it out of her and by eleven every night she was sleeping like the dead. Max would be using his pokenavi to find out exactly how many more steps it would take to get to Ash's house, then ask Ash how many steps it would take to get up the stairs and into a bed (39), and May would either be talking about some of her own adventures in Kanto the second time around or be looking up at the stars and be amazed at how far she actually traveled on her journey. Ash took a moment to look up at the stars himself, noticing the familiar position of them all and how they were so different from Unova. May was something of a night owl and Ash knew that as much as she loved coordinating, traveling was her true love. If this school thing spread to Hoenn trainers May would be really disappointed.

Then he thought about his first traveling companion, Misty Waterflower. It had been so long since they had traveled together he couldn't say for a certainty what she would be doing. Maybe she would have collapsed on the ground a while ago and refused to move swearing that if he got them lost in his own home town she would call the world records office and ask for the record on stupidity. Or she would have seen that Weedle he passed about ten minutes ago and would be running down the road to his house and arrive even before him. Maybe, since it was so late, she would be trudging along-side him and they would have one of their 'Brock is asleep' conversations and he would ask her how she was really holding up at the Gym and she would ask him how he felt seeing home again. _Or _Ash thought reluctantly, _maybe we would have absolutely nothing to say to each other and not do anything at all. _That was one of his biggest fears about Misty because he could feel them drifting apart. The phone conversations helped a lot, but if he saw her again and it was like meeting a stranger; he didn't think he could take it.

Ash shook his head to clear the negative thoughts. He wasn't going to see Misty for a while, so why worry about it now. Right now all he should be concerned with was getting home. He caught an earlier ferry than expected so Mom probably wouldn't be waiting up for him like usual and he could simply sneak into the house, get in his bed, and finally get a decent rest.

Arriving at his house he put his plan into action and quietly entered his room without the lights on so his mom wouldn't wake up. He took Pikachu out of his bag and let the Pokémon sleep on his vest as he took it off and made a bed out of it. Then he slipped off his jeans, content to sleep in his boxers for the night, and crashed face first onto his bed.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" something yelled just as he expected to hit his bed. THERE WAS SOMEONE ALREADY THERE. How Goldilocks and the three Ursaring. Ash scrambled to get off the person, but the thrashing was making it hard to sit up. Finally a familiar soft mallet whacked him off to the side of the bed and the bedside lamp got turned on.

"ASH?"

"Misty?" he really couldn't think of any other red-heads that would be sleeping in his bed in the middle of the night (he was really surprised this one was) but wow, did she look different. It was hard to appreciate how long her hair had gotten over the phone, and scrawny had to be eliminated from her description because even swaddling in an XL _Save the Seels_ tee-shirt he could tell she had filled out. Her eyes were the same blue-green, but the video screen hadn't done the color justice while her body just seemed to fit together a lot better than the awkward pre-teen he remembered.

"Misty! What's wrong? I heard you scream." Ms. Ketchum entered the room then holding aloft a frying pan and wearing a bathrobe. She then took in the scene: Ash on his back on the ground in just his undershirt and boxers, Misty sitting up in bed panting with messed up hair and one arm still extended to where she turned on the light, and finally Pikachu looking very confused from on top of Ash's shirt on the ground. Lowering the frying pan she addressed Ash.

"Welcome home honey, I'm sorry but it's too late for a proper welcome. I'll see you in the morning." At that point she turned and let the teens figure out the sleeping arrangements for themselves. Maybe not the best parental move, but she was tired!

"Ash, what are you doing here?" Misty finally said, very glad a rapist-thief-murderer wasn't attacking her in the middle of the night.

"I was, you know, trying to sleep in my bed. Guess I didn't see you there…" Ash stood up at this point and blushing a bit. He **so** did not want his first reunion with Misty to go like this. "Wait, what are you doing in my bed anyway?" Now Misty blushed a bit.

"I spend all my days at the lab putting together stuff for the school and when I work late your mom lets me sleep here." The two were silent for a moment, just staring at each other. Finally Pikachu woke up enough to realize that it wasn't just another Team Rocket but Pikachupi and ran up to give her a hug. Misty was grateful to the rodent for breaking the awkwardness between the two and made sure to scratch him in his favorite spot.

"I missed you too Pikachu, has Ash been treating you well?" Pikachu then went on in great detail about exactly how Ash had been treating him and Misty nodded like she understood everything he was saying.

"Pikachu, you know if Ash gave you that much ketchup you wouldn't have the endurance to fight the tough guys! Now are you sleeping with me or Ash tonight? Or Azurill fell asleep downstairs if you want to sleep next to her." Pikachu thought for a moment before answering. Misty didn't understand everything and looked to Ash for a clearer translation. Ash seemed to get really flustered.

"No Pikachu that is NOT happening. Come on, I'll need your help to warm up the guest bed." Pikachu looked disappointed but jumped onto Ash's proffered arm after giving Misty one last lick.

"What did Pikachu want?" Misty asked.

"Umm, well, he kinda wanted us to share a bed so we could all sleep together. But we'll just go get set up in the guest room. You seem to be settled here." He blushed and Misty caught him sending glances at something on the ground. It was only then that Misty remembered her bra was currently right where she dropped it in the dark last night. Flushed, she nodded and Ash grabbed his bag off the ground and headed for the door. This was not how Misty wanted their first meeting to go.

"Ash wait!" she called just before he opened the door. She tackled him in a hug and waited for him to return it, which he did, tentatively. They stayed like that for a few seconds then let go. Ash was surprised, he and Misty never hugged. Hit each other? Sure. Pulled each other along at top speeds to see something cool? All the time. A hug showing just plain affection and emotion? Completely new territory. Misty gave a little nervous laugh as she realized how startled Ash was at her hug.

"Umm, I guess I'm a bit more huggy after spending so much time with just my pokemon. The message is the same: I'm glad you're back and I missed you," she said. Fleeing back to Ash's bed she slipped in and pulled the covers up while Ash took his queue to leave.

The next morning Pikachu jumped onto his old friend, but Misty wasn't quite ready to wake up yet.

"Stop it," she moaned, "five more minutes," and she curled up a little bit more.

"Better leave her alone Pikachu, you know what a Dragonite she is in the mornings if she doesn't get her beauty sleep," a male voice said from above her. It took a moment, but finally everything clicked together and she remembered the scene from last night.

"Pikachu!" she said as she sat up quickly, a one hundred watt smile on her face. She cradled Pikachu for a moment then looked to consider his trainer now that it was morning. Ash had gotten taller and still had his hiker tan from traveling so much. His eyes were the same warm reddish brown she remembered, but he seemed... grown up. They had had two phone calls a month since she left, but hadn't appreciated how much he had grown physically from over the phone.

"Sit down, these past few days have been crazy and I have tons to tell you." Misty said as she patted the bed beside her. Then Misty remembered that she looked like a mess because late night movies and snacks did not do anything for a girl's looks. It didn't really matter what she looked like, she decided, Ash had seen her look much worse so it wasn't that important. There was still a little bit of left over awkwardness from the night before and no way was Misty going to let that stay. She didn't have enough friends that she could let something as simple as time destroy the best one she had.

"How was the trip? I know how much it sucks to have to go region to region on your own."

"The trip here was nice, decent weather, but I'll admit that it's going to be hard to stay in one place after so much traveling."

"I know! The first few months I got back I spent half the time camping out in my back yard just to help me get used to it." Misty said, "Well, since you've been away, you probably didn't hear that I am temporarily on the school board. Lance supports 99% of my decisions regarding professors, curriculum, and admission. I've been working with Professor Sammy for the past week." Conversation became easy for them.

"Whoa, you're on the school board? Who is Professor Sammy? Maybe this school won't be so bad after all. How did you manage that?" Ash asked, the year was looking a lot better once he realized how happy to be with his best friend again. Time hadn't made him realize how much he missed Misty until they were having a proper conversation. Though he wasn't sure he like the long hair. It just wasn't as _Misty_ as her short haired ponytail was, and he really hoped she hadn't turned out to be like Dawn and May who spent half their time in the morning in front of a mirror.

"Let's just say I had a talk with Lance," Misty blushed at the memory of her secret agent escapades. She had used her Gym Leader ID to get into the building then snuck into his office behind the secretary to ambush LANCE Dragon Master, the Pokémon League Champion of TWO regions. No wonder he had been hesitant to let her have any control over the school, she had acted like a lunatic.

"So, you yelled at him for five minutes about trying to take away your Pokémon and then came to this agreement?" Ash smirked at her.

"Shut up Ash," she said and knocked her shoulder against his. She had been worried that their relationship had changed since she traveled with him. That he would have found better friends and left her behind despite their phone calls, but it was the same as ever.

"Wait, did you get an ice cream bar in the school?" Ash said hopefully. She remembered their conversation about a month ago when they played "If I ruled the World…" one of hers had been mandatory ice cream bars in every public establishment.

She laughed, "Remember when I said Lance supported 99% of my decisions? That was the one percent. All the adults thought I was joking, so I decided to let it go. Gary looked really disappointed when that fell through."

"Gary has been helping?" Ash asked surprised.

"Yeah, he has to go back to this school to if he wants to keep Umbreon and Blastoise, and he lives where we hold the planning meetings anyway, so why not? We're pretty good friends now." Misty wondered if he had read any of the magazines claiming she and Gary were dating. She had had a huge crush on Ash while they were traveling together, and for about six months afterwards, but then she let it go. Still, would he care if she had a boyfriend? Wonder how he would react to the fact that she had gone on dates during the past year?

"Ash! Misty! Breakfast is ready!" they heard Delia call from downstairs. Pikachu jumped away from Misty and dashed down the hall. They looked at each other.

"Last one down is a Slowpoke!" they yelled at the same time and both dashed for the door. They were laughing and pulling at each other as they reached the kitchen and Ash just barely pulled ahead when he smelled his mom's french toast.

"Ha, I win!" he said triumphantly as she sat down next to him at the table.

"Looks like your running away skills have been improving." Misty replied snarkily.

Delia looked at the two teenagers, Ash still slightly dirty from the road and Misty in her night clothes with her hair everywhere. She was supprised at how well the two got back into the habit of being together after so much time apart, maybe there was hope for romance after all. The kids didn't notice her assessment as they were both stuffing their faces, though how Misty could be hungry after eating so late last night she didn't know. All that swimming just gave her a healthy appetite.

"Oh, and some warning might have been nice, you never told me when Ash would be arriving." Misty replied sarcastically, but no one believed she was truly upset.

"Yeah Mom," Ash said, "Why didn't you say Misty would be over? I almost forgot to remind Pikachu about Misty the Dragonite."

"Hey, don't tell me you turned into a morning person Ursaring,"

"Nope," Ash replied with a smile, "It's ten o'clock in Unova and I'm still on their time." And the conversation went on as the two got reacquainted with each other. When asked how her sisters were going to keep up the gym without her, she told him all about Daisy was actually a pretty good trainer and only offered to give him a badge for free because she had heard Misty was traveling with a kid and a Pikachu and wanted her to show herself. When asked what Iris and Cilan were going to do without him, he told her all about how there were tons of sites Cilan still wanted to see so Iris was going to travel with him and keep learning about dragons. All the while Delia couldn't help smiling to herself and imaging future mornings like this in the Ketchum household.


	4. Together again

And so it went for about an hour until Misty said she had to get to Professor Sammy's lab and needed to get ready. As she left, Ash's mom ordered him to take a shower and put some clean clothes on or she was going to hose him off in the garden. Lots of love for her poor traveling son. Still, he knew he would have to enjoy the two weeks he had with his mom because the dorms in Viridian wouldn't be the same, despite being so close to home.

Misty had left by the time he was done, but he decided to go to Professor Oak's anyway; his new Pokémon needed to meet his old Pokémon after all. He left down the road with Pikachu on his shoulder humming "I'm on the Road to Viridian City."

Misty was happy with the progress they had made today, it looked like everything would be ready by the dead line in two weeks. Professor Elm and Professor Rowan had agreed to spend a year at the academy since all the trainers they were going to give pokedexs and Pokémon to now have to wait another year and their fields of research would be greatly improved by being able to study highly trained Pokémon. She was a little concerned about Elm's forgetfulness, until she remembered that she was going to be a student and could use it to her advantage. No homework for that class!

They had called a lunch break and Misty left in order to let her Pokémon out on the artificial lake to play. She was a little worried since she hadn't been able to work on training them for the past week, but there would be time enough once school started. No gym battles to worry about for a whole year, so she guessed they could take a week or two to work on socializing. The Indigo league would not be going on this year, but all badges collected over the next two years would count for when the next tournament started up. Daisy would be the one to take challengers from now on and keep the pools running, but there probably weren't going to be that many.

Once she got to the lake she waved to Azurill who was playing with some Bellossum in the field and released Gyrados, Corsala, Staryu, Politoed, Milotic, and she was reaching for Psyduck's Pokéball when he came out himself. She had tried to get the Pokéball fixed several times, but everyone said the same thing, 'It's not broken, you must be mistaken' and one person even went as far as to say it must be his enormous psychic potential that allows him to release himself. Misty stopped trying after that and just resigned herself to creating a flexible strategy during her battles that allowed Psyduck to make his random entrances.

Staring at the water made her really want to jump in. She hadn't had a good swim since a week ago Saturday when she managed to take an hour to train her Pokémon's endurance in the Cape. Could she re-enter the meeting with professors and other officials dripping wet and still be taken seriously? At the moment, how much did she care? Then she felt something zip past her and hurl itself into the water.

"Hey Mist come into the water! It feels great," he gave her that boyish smirk. But there was also a challenge in his tone. Was she too proud to jump in and play with her Pokémon? Was she too afraid of getting her hair wet? That decided it for her.

She stripped off her jacket and skirt to reveal a one-piece swimsuit she always wore for just this occasion and dived in. The water felt great and it wasn't long before a splash fight started, and only a little longer before Gyrados ended it with a water gun. It felt like a Hydro pump, but Misty considered that a good thing. She climbed on top of Gyrados's head and introduced her to Ash.

Too soon, Misty had to go back inside. When the adults saw she was drenched they all stopped and stared while Gary was doing his best to hide a snigger at the sight of his friend's condition. She took a deep breath and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary; this was the same respectable Misty they had listened to before.

"Professor Sammy, I can't recall if we slotted a time for trainers to just play with their Pokémon? Your research shows that the bonds between trainer and Pokémon grow with a certain amount of time designed to just play and not to train, correct?"

"Yes Misty, it actually does, it was one of my first papers published. I hadn't remembered that until now. Good timing as we were just going over the schedule. When would you suggest?" Glad that Professor Sammy was playing along she took her seat and ignored the water she dripped on the carpet.

"I think just after the first class and before the second class in the morning. That way no one is hungry and cranky, but still leaves the afternoon block open for personal training." And the meeting went on.

The next two weeks flew by and Ash and Misty were excited when Dawn, May, and Drew all called and told them they were coming to Kanto's school. Max tried to come, claiming (probably correctly) that he knew more about Pokémon and traveling than anyone else and shouldn't have to go to remedial school. He had just gotten his first Pokémon, but hadn't competed in a tournament yet so he was stuck going to the school in Hoenn. Misty spent the time not working divided between the Ketchum's residence and her Gym until the day finally came to head out for Viridian. It was a day's walk so the morning before they had to check in Misty and Ash set out together, walking the now familiar trail to Viridian. Professor Oak had offered to drive them, but they choose to hike knowing they were going to miss the freedom once they were in school.

They talked and laughed and fought and really had a blast playing with Azurill and Pikachu the whole way there. The plan was to camp on the outskirts of Viridian and move in tomorrow with everyone else just arriving. Turns out if you don't anger a flock of Spearow or have to leave your best friends behind, the walk was actually very pleasant. They reviewed the rules they had made up the first time they were traveling together, which was fun if unnecessary.

11 o'clock curfew. Pokémon centers closed at that time and they had all agreed to be back in camp or at the center by then. If a person hadn't come back they were in serious danger and needed to be searched for as soon as possible. Misty and Ash still claimed an instinctive sense for when eleven o'clock rolled around because of how strict the rules were.

No talking in the morning till after breakfast. Their nicknames were answer enough.

Take a Pokémon with you when you leave to go to the bathroom. Silly? Probably, but experience had taught them otherwise. Nothing worse than having your pants down when a Nidoran got offended and attacked. Best to have a Pokémon and not call for your opposite gender friends.

Sleep so that everyone is seen by someone else. There was a horribly funny time when Team Rocket tried to grab Pikachu at night but grabbed Ash instead. Misty and Brock had opened their eyes at the commotion, but just thought it was Ash moving around where they couldn't see him and didn't think anything of it till morning. He was stuck in a cage all night because Team Rocket had just left him there once they saw it wasn't Pikachu.

No arguing after sunset. Brock's rule, but both Ash and Misty shut down their sarcastic selves once the sun went down. It was probably the only way Brock could tolerate their snarky remarks throughout the day.

"That's all the rules I remember," Misty insisted. However, Ash had the nagging feeling he was forgetting one. It was something important.

"No, there is one more Brock and I came up with."

"Those were the rules we told Tracy," Misty claimed.

"I'm sure there was one mo-… oh, you're right. Never mind." Ash refused to look at her.

"You guys made up a rule without me! Come on, tell me what it was."

"You won't like it, so I'm keeping my mouth shut."

"Oh please, I promise I won't hit you. I don't remember anything weird or bad happening on our journey so the rule can't be that horrible. Well, anything weird or bad that was your fault anyway," Misty pleaded, stopping in front of him and looking into his eyes, wondering if this still worked on him. Sadly, Ash could rarely say no to Misty when she was being sincere. Those ever-changing eyes always got him, especially the green that they were today.

"Fine, Rule Six, save Misty first." Ash couldn't look her in eye after he said that. Brock and him had agreed on the rule after Misty got in the way of Vulpix's fire spin and needed pounds of burn cream to be applied constantly for the three days afterwards. Misty had done her best to tough it out, but it hurt them so much to see her in pain.

It took him a while to remember; because it wasn't spoken aloud again till the night they told Tracy the rules. He had waited till Misty was asleep then woke the watcher up and informed him of rule number six. Tracy had agreed and that had been the end of it. It wasn't that they didn't think Misty could take care of herself, and he didn't want her to think that. Brock and Ash just felt that seeing Misty sad or in pain hurt them more than if they had taken the injury themselves.

Misty for her part was shocked, but some things started to make sense. She threw herself into the fray, well, not as much as Ash, but often enough to get hurt. The guys would do everything they could to make sure she was fine, and sometimes over reacted when she got back completely unharmed. Hey, she knew she could take care of herself, and they knew Misty could take care of herself, but their secret rule made sure she didn't have to all the time. It was sweet.

"See, was that so hard? Don't you ever tell this to anyone Ash, but I got dead scared plenty of times while traveling. One of the things that got me to keep going was knowing that you and Brock cared about me. Probably one of the reasons why I didn't set out again on my own once Daisy came back was that I would have had to go it alone. Thank you." She said and kissed his cheek. Really, she meant it as a friendly kiss, but it didn't seem like it when they both blushed scarlet. Luckily, at that moment they heard Pikachu shout for Ash and they saw up ahead Azurill was bouncing on a high up branch and they needed to get her down quickly.

Ash reached for Snivy to help, but before he could the baby fell. Pikachu, Ash, and Misty ran around under the tree like mad trying catch her when Ash and Misty crashed into each other and fell to the ground. Pikachu jumped on top of both their heads and managed to catch the Pokémon, one foot on Misty's forehead the other on Ash's nose. Azurill thought this was all great fun and bounced circles around the two trainers as they got up.

"Don't you just love baby Pokémon?" Ash asks, taking off his hat and rubbing his head. They grin at each other and Misty carried Azurill in her arms the rest of the way while Ash talked about his Scraggy that hatched from an egg. Finally they reached a spot that would suit their needs.

When they started to set up camp, they fell into their usual jobs like no time had passed: Misty went and filled up the pots and water bottles with clean water while Ash got the fire going. Misty took over Brock's job of setting up bowls of food for the Pokémon while Ash heated up the soup his mom had packed for them. The best part was all this stuff was going to be useful in their survival training class, which Misty assured him was much more rigorous than just learning how to camp. Often tougher trainers trained in more difficult environments to help make their Pokémon stronger or hiked to the edges of the world in search of rare and powerful Pokémon. Together they rolled a good size log near the fire for them to sit and eat their dinner.

It was a little weird how in sync they were with each other, but then Misty remembered it was like this on their journey, and guessed that old habits die hard.

Ash on the other hand thought about how strange it was that they fell right back into their old routine and compared it to the other people he had traveled with. They didn't talk very much while setting up camp, but it was a comfortable silence between two people who knew each other well, not the tired silence of weary travelers that usually shut him and his friends up. He remembered May insisting on not only learning how to start a fire but that they all take turns with everything except cooking, that was always Brock. Then there was Dawn who had to have a tent for the first five months and often needed Ash and Brock to help her get a certain pole up. Iris who always slept in trees and wanted to be independent so much that she had everyone to do everything for themselves, though Cilan always cooked. He didn't mind the way his other friends wanted to travel, but it wasn't as effortless as it was with Misty.

Everything was set up and they let the Pokémon out to have their meal. Pokémon don't need to eat as much while they were in their Pokéball, so it was usually one or two meals a day for them and three for the poor humans, Azurill, and Pikachu. After dinner, Ash and Misty both went over to their bags to get something and looked at the other suspiciously.

"On the count of three?" Misty called to Ash after their stalemate. She actually had no idea what they were doing, but hoped he had had the same thought as her. He nodded and counted.

Revealed at the same time was something they called an indestructo ball to play a game they had created while traveling the Orange Islands. On one of the islands they stopped at they had both purchased balls that were supposed to be indestructible to any Pokémon attack. Grinning at each other they called their Pokémon over to play the game.

The Pokémon all knew this game and the presence of two balls only added to their excitement. About the size of a volleyball, the goal was to keep the ball from touching the ground but inside the circle of friends. They could only use physical moves until everyone in the circle had touched the ball at least once, then all attacks were good so long as the ball stayed within the circle. Whoever was closest to the ball as it touched the ground or had made it fall out of the circle was out of the game. Ash and Misty were in the circle too of course, and it meant they often got hit by wayward attacks, but it was too much fun not to join in. A little bit of the circle was in the water, leaving room for Gyrados and Milotic to join the excitement.

Misty threw her's so it would bounce off of Psyduck's duck head (There was only one time in the past when Psyduck had managed to use a psychic attack and that was when every other turn it was bounced on his head. It took ages to find the ball lodged in a tree, so they didn't try it again.) And the game began. It was cool watching all the Pokémon work together, even though Ash and Misty were knocked out pretty early in the game.

For the longest time they thought it was just plain fun and Tracy would enjoy sketching the attacks colliding in air around the orbs. It was only pointed out by the older boy as they were leaving for Pallet that it also taught the Pokémon to have an attack ready to deflect if something unexpected happens in a battle. They still played it like a game, even if it was also training.

The last two Pokémon playing were Politoed and Pikachu, easily being the most nimble on land, though Snivy had been doing a really good job with the two balls. Ash and Misty couldn't stop laughing because it looked like two Pokémon were juggling with the speed they were pushing the balls back and forth. A Fearow's caw startled both Pokémon at the same time and a ball dropped near each of them. It was a tie! The Pokémon had been enjoying the spectacle but now there was no light left in the sky and it was time for everyone to go to sleep.

The two trainers slept perpendicular to each other with their heads together and they talked about the things that was reserved for talking at night when everyone else was asleep. Dreams and fears about the future. They would both stare up at the stars and talk about what they really wanted and made sure the other person wasn't crazy. It was at night when Brock was asleep that Misty had told Ash about her parents, and Ash had told Misty about his secret dream of finding his father. The first time this had happened was a little strange, it was a little after they had met Brock and they had had the worst fight the two could ever remember having. Both felt really guilty and that first night they talked about how they probably weren't going to stop fighting, but instead laid out ground rules about what topics they should never tease the other about. It was a strange conversation, not very deep, but it became a habit after that.

"Really, Misty, do your sisters still treat you like a runt?" Ash asked. From above his head where he couldn't see Misty replied.

"It has gotten better, but sometime when we're alone I can still feel them look down on me. In their minds battling will always be what the poor talentless sister does to make up for her lack of looks. I get it less from Daisy, but it's nice that they are almost never home anyway."

"Don't you miss them?"

"Don't you miss your mom when traveling?" There was silence before Ash asked a question he had been saving.

"Misty, I know how much work you've put into the school, but the idea still sounds ridiculous to me, are you okay with it?" There was a long silence and Ash stated fidgeting, worried he had over-stepped their usual questions after such a long absence from each other. Just as he was starting to panic Misty answered.

"I don't know Ash, I was always an adult before. A Gym Leader who paid bills, managed accounts and was responsible for the wellbeing of forty pokemon. I grew up because I had to, and now I have to be a kid again. They should freaking make up their mind. Leaving Daisy to worry about money is nice though, and I think… I think I might like being a kid again…"

The two fell asleep eventually. Happier than they had been in a long time. It's really hard living away from your best friend.

AN: Okay, so this chapter actually means a lot to me. I am finishing my second semester at college and without my best friend Emma by my side it hurts. Oh, and congrats Pokémon fandom for beating Kingdom hearts in sheer number of fics, we deserve to be number one. Review if you feel like it.

thecagedsong


	5. 5 Arrival

The next morning Ash got up first, he was still getting used to Kanto time and wasn't quite there yet. Stumbling out of his sleeping bag, he restarted the fire with some wood left over from yesterday, put on some water for hot chocolate, and got out his chocolate poptarts. He felt much more human after a couple of bites and turned to watch Misty to see if she was close to getting up.

Most of Misty's hair was invisible because it was in one big lose ponytail for sleep, but that probably to kept it from falling out into the dirt. He had been happy to see her pull the top layer out of her face into her side ponytail during the last few weeks. It seemed like the perfect combination of old Misty and new Misty. Though, and he smirked as he thought this, there was a lot more of old Misty in her then she would like to let on. He had been so happy yesterday when she pulled out her indestructo ball. He was sure she had forgotten about it. Sure, he played the game all the time with May and Dawn and a couple of times with Iris, but May and Dawn had their Pokémon trained for contests and couldn't usually keep up with his endurance wise. Plus having two balls seemed to push the limits of the players and made the game that much more fun. He missed the impossibilities of the game a lot when they first separated, but he didn't realize how much until they had the chance to play it again.

Misty had always slept with her mouth closed and body curled up, he vaguely remembered. She would start moving her mouth when she was getting ready to wake up and would start to straighten out her legs. _Misty still does that_, he realized, happy that there was even more of his old friend in her. There had been a point during his first day back while at the lab that it seemed like Misty had become a whole different person. An adult who took everything seriously and was respected by everyone she met for her poise and knowledge, and that was a huge change from the hot-headed romantic he knew as his best friend. You know, the one who screamed and hid behind him whenever a bug looked at her and the one who would ooh and ahh over a water Pokémon as slimy as a Tentacool. That was partly why he dared her to jump in the water that day, challenging her to become less than perfectly respectable. He was so glad when she did. It showed there was some of the devil-may-care girl behind the façade. Then his old friend kept showing up, and now he was fully convinced that she was never really gone. Still slept the same, still never let him get away with saying something stupid or inconsiderate, still love water Pokémon more than life itself, still Mist.

Oh, look she was starting to stretch, time to go look at something else. He didn't know why, but staring at her sleeping seemed personal, like something he shouldn't be allowed to do yet. He also didn't know how Misty would react, so he went to wake Pikachu and start putting out the food bowls.

Misty got up ten minutes later and grunted at him as he handed her a pop tart. Another five minutes and she was saying how nervous she was about the day, but how excited she was to see everyone again.

"I wish Brock had to go through all this crap, but no, he's _responsible_," Misty smiled to show she was joking, but Ash also missed the guy that was an older brother to him.

"Cheer up Mist, he's studying in Viridian City, so we can bug him all we want. It'll be like he never left with the amount of time we'll be at his place." They both smiled at that and headed for the Gym turned school. It had been a long time since they had walked this road together. Last time it was the day Misty stopped traveling with him, and it felt right to be back here with her. Viridian just wouldn't be the same without her wide-eyed and looking around at everything right beside him. As many times as he visited the city, Viridian always had new things to ogle at.

They walked into the courtyard where a multitude of trainers were milling around and greeting each other, and everyone holding their luggage for the next year. On one side there were people with a lot more baggage than others and seemed to be friendlier. Ash and Misty guessed these were the coordinators and headed over there to try to find their friends.

Ash was able to spot Drew first and rushed over to greet him dragging Misty, "Hey Drew! How have you been? Is May with you? I want you to meet my friend Misty." He had been holding Misty by her elbow so when they finally reached him she tripped and had to look up at Drew while lying on the ground.

"Nice to see you again," she said and held up her hand from where she was currently positioned on her back. He looked at her curiously while shaking her hand and helped her up.

"Ash, same as ever I see, no idea how to treat a lady. Glad to see you again too. How's Gyrados?" They shook hands properly, and Misty remembered why she liked him, he was suave without being cheesy. Okay, maybe he was a little cheesy, but what girl couldn't appreciate that?

"Wait, you two know each other?" Ash asked a little amazed. Misty decided to hit him on the back of the head.

"I told you about the time May and Drew came to see me during their second Kanto circuit remember? They were trying to make contests more popular in Kanto so the Coordinator League asked them to compete here again?" Misty said.

"No, wait, a little. It was like a year ago!" he protested "Where is May?" he directed the question towards the green haired boy.

Drew looked pointedly at Ash, "May saw someone she absolutely had to talk to and rushed off rather like the way you rushed over here. I assumed she had seen you, but I don't know where she is now." Misty sensed something between the two guys, Drew was fighting for something. May? She had unsuccessfully tried to find out his feelings for the girl the last time they had met. She looked at Ash, to gauge his reaction, but Ash had his 'I missed every subtle clue you just gave me' face on. Okay, so it looked like his normal smile, but Misty always thought it looked stupider.

"ASH!" Misty heard two girls exclaim from a little ways away, and saw a blur of dust as they rushed over. In fact, just like Ash had when he saw Drew, only they weren't dragging anyone behind them by the elbow. At least _some_ people had manners.

They mobbed him with hugs, and Misty recognized May, while she assumed the bluenette was Dawn. Once they let go of him he turned to Misty.

"Misty, this is Dawn, and you remember May. Guys, this is my best friend and the Cerulean Gym Leader, Misty Waterflower." Misty faked bowed at his overly grand introduction but smiled to show she was joking.

"Wait, THE Misty Waterflower," Dawn asked excitedly.

"Um, yes?" Ash said uncertainly.

"Ash, your best friend is the freaking Princess of Kanto!" then Dawn started shaking her hand vigorously and inside Misty groaned. She hated that stupid article. They barely mentioned her battling ability and claimed she was so beautiful that every guy she met fell for her. It was completely ridiculous.

"Look Dawn, chill, you know that that title doesn't mean anything okay. See watch," May said and turned to Misty before holding out her hand, "Hi, I am May Maple, Princess of Hoenn." Misty shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you Princess May, I'm Misty of Cerulean, I don't care about my looks and will challenge any fool who doesn't respect me to a Pokémon battle and crush him into dust." She smiled pleasantly. Then she whispered quietly to May, "Thanks, I hate that stupid article."

"Well Princesses, I'm just Dawn the commoner, loyal servant to royalty. Let's go find out who we're rooming with." Misty appraised Ash's third female traveling partner. Honestly, the prettiest one here was probably Dawn, May still had dirt on her face from traveling and Misty didn't even want to know what she looked like. Dawn was dang cute and Misty gave a sideways glance at Ash to see if he noticed how beautiful Dawn looked. It would be hard not to fall for someone with just as much energy as him and that looked gorgeous even after traveling. Ash was looking at Dawn and May, but Misty couldn't tell what he was thinking. Then May and Dawn hooked arms with her and the girls set off together while the boys looked mildly confused about what just happened. The group left their bags with Pikachu to guard (read sleep on) and went to find their room assignments.

"So Ash, worried that May, Dawn, and Misty will be put in the same room together?" Drew asked.

"Why would I be worried? It looks like they are going to be great friends, though Misty does have a thing about coordinators." Ash really didn't see a problem, Misty respected the job even if she doesn't agree with the philosophy of it, and May and Misty got along fine in the Mirage Kingdom.

"Are you that much of an idiot Ash?" Drew asked seriously. One guy couldn't really be that dense. May had told him stories about it, but in action it was awesome how much subtext the kid missed.

Ash had learned to shrug off comments like that, practice from years with Misty and Brock. "People tell me that I am, but I really don't see a problem with three of my friends becoming friends with each other. Why would I?"

"You know what? I'm going to let you find out on your own. Should be fun to watch." Drew said coolly and started walking ahead of Ash who had stopped.

"Wait Drew! What do you mean 'I'm going to find out'? Hey, tell me!" Ash chased after Drew.

**A/N: Feel Free to Skip. I love Drew, really. I am pretty sure Drew and Misty are my BROTP and personally I have a pet peeve with stories that go "Oh four girl besties randomly living alone together meet four guy besties and they all match up perfectly to live happily ever after". Seriously in a real highschool AU, provided you kept the personalities and backgrounds the same, Misty would have Drew and Paul as her best friends while May, Dawn, and Ash would be inseperable. Gary would be the geeky friend of both groups and Brock would be the older student that liked to mess with their heads. Misty gets along better with Guys and Ash gets along better with girls, that's just the way they are. Ash and Misty would still fall in love, because those two are soul mates, but casual hangout friends would not be Misty, May, and Dawn. **

** Anyway, enough of my rambling that has nothing to do with this story, Review if you have thoughts. If you're worried about getting back a detailed response in a PM about your review, don't be. I kinda find that creepy. Your review will most likely be answered with changes to my writing. **

**Except for the spelling crap, I know Gyrados is spelled Gyarados, but I like my spelling better, so stuff it.**


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